


Apricus

by BD99



Series: Tumblr Prompts [14]
Category: Sin With Me (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Female Character, Canon Bisexual Character, F/F, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:22:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28406193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BD99/pseuds/BD99
Summary: Onyx actually choked, spluttered pathetically as her face adopted the hue of Vinca’s jumpsuit. Heat pooled across the gorgeous slopes of her cheeks, burning right up to the very roots of her hair. Of all the things to say, THAT was so far from Cali’s usual lines that Onyx was almost sure she’d have a heart attack. Her ribs throbbed, agonised beneath tight skin and a pounding from the vicinity of her chest. It didn’t help that the constriction of her throat and desperate wheezing left her with barely any room to breathe.
Relationships: Onyx Wren/Main Character
Series: Tumblr Prompts [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1940980
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Apricus

**Author's Note:**

> I owe Zutia a HUGE shout out for continuing to help me out when I get stuck. Honestly, that girl needs some love.
> 
> This was written as part of a prompt filler focusing around Onyx dealing with insecurity and how she and her lady love deal with it. Of course, I HAD to incorporate Onyx's little guilty pleasure which truly kickstarted the adventure.

The Arena was alive with the sound of scuffing feet across squeaky flaws, with crews carrying and carting lights larger than Onyx’s bed around, or sheets of white to reflect the lighting. The continuous clicks of cameras played a backdrop to barked orders and encouragement, along with the loud giggling gaggle of starstruck fans who’d won an opportunity to be involved in the Union of Sin photoshoot.  
  
Darius Ricci, the Lust assassin, was completely at home in the spotlight. Cocooned by his wings, even as he flew. His muscular body hung above the ground, wrapped in the wine purple aerial silks, gelled hair barely disturbed by the fact he was hanging upside down, signing autographs as women flushed and swooned. Onyx couldn’t blame them. He wore nothing save his dark tights, which left no outline of his spectacular physique to imagination. Darius was a gorgeous man, with a jawline that could cut diamonds as easily as the numerous lips that kissed him every day. The perfect mix of exotic to every nation, handsome to all with his caramel skin, princely nose, broody brows, fine brown hair and chocolate eyes. So many eyes were only chocolate coloured; not Darius’. His eyes melted, pools that could make one feel submerged and embraced with a single playful wink. He was easy to drown in, even without seeing his near naked body flying through the air, spinning and tucking amidst his silks, until gravity was nothing but his dance. Still, the rope was akin to vines, wrapped around his muscled body. Each and every one of his muscles were so clearly defined, from his neck to toes. Not only defined, but limber, sensual, moving almost as if they were coils of his silks trapped beneath his skin. The way he could move, as if he were the spirit of dance trapped within a human body. Such a sensual creature was the embodiment of Lust, giving and receiving. All punctuated with a smirk so unholy that the room seemed to grow a few degrees warmer whenever it was shown.

Onyx’s gaze drifted, catching the next display.

Ripley, the oldest living Envy assassin, holding her pose halfway up a pole. She was flying, dark knee and thigh hooked around the glistening silver in such a duality of colour one might find themselves blinded. The dusky woman was a goddess, each muscle so exquisitely carved, so perfectly formed that the concept of random genetics instead of a divine creator became laughable. Night became dawn at her breasts, which were wrapped in a honeycomb geometric bra, yellow with traces of black. The hexagons were in conflict with the smooth curve of her exposed stomach, with muscles to put even Darius to shame. Further conflict was birthed when the sharp V shaped muscles dipping into her compression shorts was compared to the generous curve of her hips, the sculpture of her rump against the pole. Somehow, she embodied the tenderness one often associated with a woman, whilst holding a physique of a Roman gladiator, complete with unseemly scars across muscles rivalling Greek gods. Tenderness and brazen strength on constant display. Ripley herself appeared serene. Her strong arms remained spread wide, wrists captured mid flutter, as if her fingertips might morph into the softest of feathers at her whim. Full lips remained in a gentle smile, liquid honey for the soul, matched by long, cool umbra brown hair which hung like a curtain of silk. The locks glistened and gleamed in their darkness, drawing one’s focus from bright clothes and a positively salacious body to the most soulful grey eyes. Eyes so sweet, so brimming with warmth despite their cool colour. Conflict in perfect artistic harmony.

Again, it was not who Onyx was focused on. Sure, she took a moment to appreciate the eye candy, to remind herself that her family was alive, but the dragon within her was restless, seeking.

Wrath was in the shadows, her broad back made broader by the scuffed green of her canvas jacket. Before her, azure flame in human form. Yvette, the Greed assassin, sheathed in layers upon layers of blue silks. Neither on public display, hidden away for a few moments to themselves. Judging by the gleam in Yvette’s stunning blue eyes, Onyx didn’t want to dig her petite nose into their business... not in public, at least. Across the room she was able to make out Caleb North, Sloth, smoking pistol in hand, bickering with the lighting crew. A wave of red was also there. Vinca, most likely, smoothing things out with her sharpest smile, one Onyx knew was more lethal than her twin sister’s blades. Again, more of her family off of display, letting Darius distract the fans and Ripley get her photos before the other Envy Assassins had to step up to the plate.

Once she found her target, it took all of Onyx’s restraint self-restraint not to bite her lip. It wasn’t like her to so openly reflect just how affected she was; however, she didn’t have to be Envy at the very moment. At least, not the leading Envy. She stood by Malakai at the sidelines, swaddled in an overly familiar tie dye hoodie, far from her usual spotlight. Far from the judgements if she was not the perfect Sin Sweetheart. The perfectly delicate yet fiery little fashionista Vegas had fallen for. It wasn’t as if she’d be spared the spotlight for long, she knew she’d soon have to step up and play some role in the photoshoot, something amidst the group that’d go in a magazine, where she’d be picked apart of appearing to have gained weight or the condition of her skin. Where it would be pointed out, yet again, that she was not half the model her sister was. That the scars across her body would be questioned, yet right now that didn’t matter. She only had eyes for a single person.

The way Cali’s skin glistened in the light left Onyx speechless. The visage of soft, oiled leather coated in a fine powdering of gold dust. It was alive, rippling like decadent chocolate at the bottom of a fountain, punctuated by the noticeable flex of perfectly defined muscle. Heck, Onyx could make out the striations across Cali’s back, dipping right into her spine. The arch across Cali’s hips, flowing into the perfect V. The sheets of rolling abdominal muscles, the pull of skin across ribs. It was rippling shoulders which emphasised Cali’s strength and beauty. The divots and ravines as she moved and flexed, where sweat might run through the glorious landscape, making her shine even brighter.

However, it was not the perfect gleam of skin which drew a series of low murmurs. The artwork was dark, edgy, her body scratched, clawed at even.

“Did Cali get into a fight with some demons recently?” Malakai asked, chin tilted up in thought as his dark eyes roamed the expanse of Cali’s form.

With scars decorating her flesh, she stood out amongst a softer crowd. Raised, pale lines, as if life had tried to vacuum the colour from her skin with vicious claws. It was too easy to mistake the age of wounds, to miss how the skin around the fresher marks swelled with bruising too close to her original skin tone for comfort. Enough for every racist line Onyx had ever heard thrown Cali’s way to echo in her mind. Some, Onyx only knew the stories of. The slashes and cuts from Nitsa’s toying, physical representations of her blades. Yet there was nothing for how deeply the words had left Cali torn. Nothing to express how Cali howled at night, or how she clung to Onyx as if the wind might turn her to sand in Cali’s hands again. Then, there was that thick line across the curve her shoulder, where Vinca’s blade had cut to the bone, had stolen Cali’s blood to curse Onyx. That was another scar on Cali’s mind to. Her fears that another demon might try it, might succeed. That next time, love and family might not be enough to save Onyx’s soul. Claw marks trailed Cali’s shoulders, following the curve of muscle, a tale Onyx knew too well. Scars from when Onyx had clung to Cali, holding as if the world might end, begging with every fibre of her being to be allowed to stay. Clinging with dragon’s talons to the greatest treasure in her life as Nitsa tried to tear her soul apart. Scars which tapered weakly down Cali’s spine, like droplets of water, as decadent as they were deprived. When Onyx had slumped, victorious and worn, in Cali’s embrace. With her talons fading back to human fingertips.

Onyx couldn’t. With an all too embarrassed groan, she let her face fall into her waiting hand, spreading her petite fingers as wide as possible in an effort to conceal the rising heat across her face. The dragon side of her was soothed by Cali, warmed and sated by presence. By the knowledge Cali was near enough to be protected. Or perhaps hoarded, given the nature of a Dragon. Yet, that warmth to a human was a furnace. An inferno. One which those around her unwillingly fed until the very tips of her delicate ears were flushed beneath waves of white gold hair.

Those more recent marks were sloppier. Less deep. The nails carving them blunt and human, the direction different. They were not clinging, nor were they slashes. They were desperation. Looking for a grip. Somewhere. Anywhere. Working with rippling muscle, caressing and claiming simultaneously. Paired with little crescent indents along Cali’s spine to the nape of her neck, as if something had tried to climb her like some form of tree. Such different marks; bruised instead of scarred. Already healing. Fading... unlike an extremely specific, undeniable mark. Two arcs, curving together yet never quite touching. Raised in a purplish-blue booming bruise. Teeth becoming fangs. Too sharp to be human. To blunt to be Draconic. Too precise to have been delivered in a fight, too swollen to have been done with a completely clear mind.

“Oh sweet, sweet Malakai. Don’t ever change.” Ripley giggled, approaching with an all too knowing gleam in her mischievous grey eyes. Onyx only peered through her fingers long enough to catch Ripley’s playful wink, then groaned again.

“Dude. Come on. We all know why Cali’s a mess.” Darius’s voice joined the party, laden with suggestion. Eyes more sinful than melted chocolate glistened, accented by the darkness of his eyeliner. Eyeliner which had been partially smudged and carried by the sweat across his face. His somewhat dishevelled appearance only served to accentuate the lewd wiggling of his brow, and the synchronised bouncing of his pecks.

“Cut it out!” Cal demanded, thoughtlessly reaching out to slap Darius’ bouncing boobs with an open hand. The slap of skin against damp skin echoed through the room, earning a series of curious glances and winces. Both assassins cringed, Darius in pain and Cal in utter disgust. As if his professionally sloppy image would be ruined by the presence of another man’s sweat across his cuff.

“We need to have a team meeting about public decency.” Wrath muttered, eyes gleaming with mirth despite the harsh angle of her jaw. The impression of immense disapproval as she towered over Onyx. The Envy assassin just let out a muffled squeak of embarrassment, keeping her flushed face firmly covered. No way. This was not happening. Not now. Not ever. The lost property for her clothing was bad enough, but this? The human side of her was reduced to a spluttering mess. A dismayed, distressed young woman with a noticeable swell to her belly and unstable emotions. She was back on the sidelines, the designer without being the acrobat. What happened if Cali and Ripley didn’t need her on the stage? What if her being gone was better? She had twins on the way, for god’s sake. Did she really belong anymore?

Chancing a second peep between her fingers, Onyx inspected the troupe. Her family. The brothers and sisters she’d gained through fate. They were hers, something which could never be taken away from her. This had the dragon side of her preening, content within her human skin. She had marked them all. With every design, she had bound them together as one whilst recognising their individuality. Every stitch was her promise to protect them. Her treasures. Her prizes. All gathered close to her heart. Yet, it was Pride and Envy who were closest to Onyx’s heart. Ripley, Vinca and Cali, all woven into her blood and soul. For so long, she had been Ripley’s only connection to the world of humans. The only one to understand her thoughts, to soothe the bear. The woman who had come to be her sister was considered one of the dragon’s most valuable possessions, right alongside Vinca, her actual twin sister. But Cali... Cali was hers so very, very differently.

Cali bore not only scars for her, but her scars. Ripley and Vinca both had scars from protecting Onyx, as did Cali, but only Cali bore Onyx’s teeth. Onyx may have been Ripley’s tether, at one point, but Cali was hers. Even sharing her within the Envy Trio’s bond was sometimes aggravating. Especially when she reflected how Ripley had been able to be there for Cali. A bear was less conspicuous that a dragon, less dangerous too. It had taken all of Onyx’s soul and all of their combined power to redirect fate to Cali, to choose her. Only for her to be isolated, left with nothing save her own rage and Cali’s agony. Every single drop of it bleeding into her body long after tears had run dry. She still coveted it, clinging to those dark insecurities Cali let leak into the bond. They weren’t for Ripley, not her perfect ability to soothe like the dream image of a supportive big sister. No, some of Cali’s pains were for Onyx, her own pride and Dragon soul would allow nothing less... and neither would Cali. Those fears were only willingly exposed to Onyx, whispers and pleas whispered into opalescent feathers. Cali was hers entirely. Heart, mind, soul. It was all given to Onyx. All guarded by Onyx. The morbid side of her relished the fact even death could not take this from her, take Cali. Their magic bound them beyond time, beyond lives and forms. A dragon and her little, otter speaking human. She had no clue what Cali might become in death, perhaps some mystic of the deep, or perhaps merely an otter...that drew a smile. Would Cali’s fur be the same rich black/brown mix as her hair? Would little ears bravely poke out of tufts of angled fur, peeping like little secrets? Would she still have that little fierce pout when she kicked? A little otter pout, with fiery eyes? The picture of Cali as a little otter in her arms was too cute, so utterly adorable she almost cooed out loud. She would have, if not for the flash of red standing too close to Cali.

She knew it was stupid, knew it was born of stupid nightmares of a stupid little girl amped up on stupid hormones because she was stupid enough to die... she knew, but still Onyx was taken aback by the severity of her anxieties at the sight. Vinca’s hand on Cali’s shoulder was completely wrong, dangerous... enough to have a growl beginning to build in her throat. Cali and Dorran were nothing alike. Cali treated her kindly, doted on her even. Cali had begged for the chance to give her soul just to help Onyx. Dorran had been the man tearing her down, hurting her, never taking no or stop as an acceptable response to any of his treatment. Vinca hadn’t just gone and offed him either. She’d fallen to her knees. She’d sobbed and begged for Onyx to leave him before he killed her. But... all Onyx could remember was the emptiness when Vinca had strutted in as the new Pride. The look of disbelief between her and Ripley, then the understanding at the darkness in Nahara’s expression. It warred in her mind. The moment she realised Vinca had killed Dorran, the moment she’d had the man she loved torn from her. Her shackles undone without any guidance on how to piece herself together. Lost and broken, with a smile superglued as she fell into mantras and bad habits to escape the pain. How easy it had been to let Vinca take the blame, how shamed she’d been to stay silent.

It was stupid. She trusted Vinca. She knew now why everything had happened... but that didn’t undo every nasty thing that had happened. Didn’t undo the tears falling from Cali’s dark eyes. How powerless both had felt, Cali to the point of confrontation. To going against Onyx’s advice. It didn’t undo the scars across Cali’s body, across her psyche. It didn’t take away the image of Cali forced to her knees. Of Cali sobbing over how useless she felt. Of Cali screaming as vines trapped her. Those screams. Those tears... they were building again. A cascading assault of sound and memory, of twisted expressions and dulled eyes. Enough to burn. Enough to earn a snarl, followed by blind steps. Closer. Onyx needed to be closer. Vinca could NOT have Cali. Not now. Not with a family on the way.

It was thick, cloying at her gut. A thousand little hands dragging her chest into her stomach, starting with her racing, screaming heart. Her nerves prickled, pulse pounding in her ears like the drums of war. War. Her body was at war. Fingers tingling, aching with the urge to become claws. Teeth, already sharpened, ready to bite and gnash. Everything was a haze, until the red fog seemed to pull at her eyelids. Colours didn’t change but everything was red. Vinca. Cali’s blood across the floor. Her blood on the knives. Red. Red, red, red. Enough that Onyx might scream. Pounding. Squeezing. Threatening. Her children felt it too, they answered, fluttery little movements which only added to the panic. They’d never know Cali if Vinca... she’d done it before. She’d taken, then she’d tried to hurt Cali. Again and again, Vinca hurt Cali. What if this was the time she killed? What if this time, she didn’t hold back, or missed, or...? Onyx took a breath. Then another. She couldn’t let herself fall into that trap, couldn’t put her children at risk before they’d even drawn their first breath. So, Onyx breathed. She breathed until she was clear headed enough to take note of Cali’s face.

Cali did not look afraid. Not at all. In fact, her lips were fixed in a casually wicked grin, one paying homage to Vinca’s. It was unnerving, seeing Cali so openly embrace one of Vinca’s traits. So openly interact with Vinca despite their pained history. A reminder of how powerful the newest Envy Assassin truly was. She was not Dorran. Her eyes travelled Vinca’s body without a trace of lust or desire. Appreciating a friend, not eyeballing her partner’s twin like a secret upgrade. Onyx had always noticed that. How Dorran seemed to appreciate things about Vinca which he later punished Onyx for. The less desirable twin. With eyes of green, like Envy, instead of deep blues. With bright, bold colours like a teenager instead of the refined makeup of a woman. Everything Dorran had made a contest between them, Cali saw. She appreciated. But want? There was not a single trace of it. Not like how it felt every time her eyes found Onyx.

“Don’t worry Vinc, I’ve pretty much forgiven you. After all, I’ve got the sweetest revenge known to mankind.” Cali’s voice was light, her eyes like the shadows of liquid flames. There was no fear, no surrender. Through the bond, Onyx knew Cali had sensed her approach. It was unspoken, a summons answered. Cali’s arm easily fell around Onyx’s body, cradling her close, with a tender hand across her belly. Naturally, they melted together, bodies melding, curves fitting like pieces of an impossible puzzle. In the scoop of Cali’s body, Onyx was able to breathe, to let her fears come to the surface. Each was countered. Answered by past joys. Calm. The cool surface of a still lake on a summers day. Safe. The warmth of a Dragon’s wing across her small body. Secure. Feathers softer than any pillow, yet dense enough to be grounding. Yours. Mine. Ours. A recognition of two halves, of their mutual claims. Their mutual desires. Claimed, but never owned. Never chained. Flying. The cool skies around them.

Cali was so utterly immobile against Vinca. Challenging, meeting her with nothing but a dare in her hardened expression. A trickle of amusement across the most wicked smirk known to man as she delivered her line flawlessly.

“You have to live with the fact I’m boning your sister every night.”

Onyx actually choked, spluttered pathetically as her face adopted the hue of Vinca’s jumpsuit. Heat pooled across the gorgeous slopes of her cheeks, burning right up to the very roots of her hair. Of all the things to say, THAT was so far from Cali’s usual lines that Onyx was almost sure she’d have a heart attack. Her ribs throbbed, agonised beneath tight skin and a pounding from the vicinity of her chest. It didn’t help that the constriction of her throat and desperate wheezing left her with barely any room to breathe.

“Looking like that? I call bullshit.” Vinca’s retort was sharp, needle like, a lance straight to the hip. A strike guided by the very pointed drop of her gaze, shamelessly inspecting the teeth marks in Cali’s flesh. She didn’t retreat. In fact, the Chinese woman tilted herself into the light, allowing it to play off the bruising in such a way that the deepening layers seemed even darker against her skin. Proud. Loudly so. Verbally and behaviourally. Her body screamed her delight at Vinca’s attention to it, at the existence of such a mark. It was tangible. Real. Proof of passions too strong for a human to contain. A reassurance to both Envy Assassins. Dorran had never wanted to have any evidence across his body, no lipstick stains or little love bites, not even as much as a hair out of place. He could defile. He could mark and bruise, could leave Onyx with her voice raw from her pleading, but she could not return the favour. A favour she now recognised as a curse. But Cali... Cali begged to be a canvas. For proof Onyx had been there, that Onyx was alive. Leaving those marks was freedom, knowing someone had pride to have her as their own. Enough to sacrifice other prides. Onyx was indiscriminate, allowing urges to dictate patterns. Cali was more considerate. She kept marks hidden, each delivered with gentle touch after gaining explicit consent. She understood how passion had been weaponised, how he had tried to burn Onyx. Just as she understood the fire in Onyx needed permission to burn. Cali’s marks upon Onyx’s flesh were never a trap, never a chain. Currency. Energy to a depleting battery. Recharging. Rejuvenating.

“You could always read my mind and find out. Either way, I win, Auntie Vinca.” Cali’s mocking tone earned a light snort from Onyx, luring the glee out of the little assassin. Auntie. As in family. Their family. A family growing beneath Onyx’s breast even as they spoke. It was warm, like the sunlight of a summers day across her skin. Or laying on a perfectly heated blanket. The bond was aglow, a feedback of positivity between them. Her belly fluttered, her babes wanting in on the moment. Before Onyx could even speak, Cali’s hand was there, caressing the subtle swell of her belly with a touch so reverent it brought tears to both their eyes. Eyes which met, followed by the most tender of smiles exchanged. Awestruck, so completely and utterly devoted. Enough that the world might crumble, and they would only have eyes for their little family.

“Ugh, you two are so utterly adorable. Its disgusting.” Vinca groaned; her good-natured teasing breaking the moment. Or so one might have thought. Again, the fierce flush of pride burst through them both. Helium in a balloon. Fresh, bubbly soda on the tongue on a hot day. A sip of cold water after a workout.

“Well, you have to live with my hell spawn for at least 18 years, Vinc. I have to say, my revenge is pretty damn sweet.” Cali chuckled; lips pulled into the gentlest of smiles as she lowered her head to Onyx’s. The warmth of their skin touching was a balm to every ache neither knew they had, drawing light breaths and dreamy smiles. The lightest rub of Cali’s nose against her own drew yet another breathy laugh from Onyx, followed by a quiet hum of contentment as Cali’s lips touched hers. Something sweet and chaste, given without any concept of direction or goals. A kiss that parted without dismay, both knowing they’d meet again the moment Cali let out her final breathless statement.

“Revenge tastes like raspberries.”


End file.
